Lesson From The Emporium: Your Life Is An Occasion
| Kelsey Ruger | Jan 14, 2010 | 4 Responses | Creativity |
If you know me it’s no secret that Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is one of my favorite movies and has even inspired a presentation or two. This is by far my favorite scene from the movie because it is the intersection of the movies two main characters. One, who is at the end of his life has lived his passion and the other at the beginning of her life is trying to rediscover hers.
When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He’s written “He dies.” That’s all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is “He dies.” It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with “He dies.” And yet every time I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it’s only natural to be sad, but not because of the words “He dies.” but because of the life we saw prior to the words.
I’ve lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I’m only asking that you turn the page, continue reading… and let the next story begin. And if anyone asks what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest “He died.”
I love this. I love that you had me in mind when you wrote it. This is exactly how I feel about my life right now.
About all of our lives really.
Things have changed so much this past year. We’ve grown more than I ever would have expected.
I never liked this movie until I saw it through your eyes. And now I can’t get enough of it.
Thank you my friend.
I’ve never seen this movie and at the time it came out I was only mildly interested in it, but after seeing this clip I am going to make it a point to see it.
In these times as Erica has stated there has been so much change, so much growth but the one thing that I think we can never loose is our ability to see the wonders that are all around us. Even in the midst of challenging times we must find a way to see the wonder as only the wonder can truly inspire us to greatness.
Tough times galvanize our resolve, visualizing the wonder gives us the courage to go on.
Thanks for this post.
This is by far my favorite post so far. I love the life lesson. The post, and the movie, makes you realize that you don’t have to settle for a life that you don’t emphatically LOVE. You have the power to change things for the better. And shame on you if you don’t.
Great clip. My favorite line from the film is “30 seconds well spent is a lifetime”.
This film doesn’t make me depressed about death so much as it makes me want to celebrate my acts and make them count.
My son is Zach Mills aka Eric Applebaum so I was fortunate enough to watch this scene being filmed. It was a 5 hanky scene for sure and I doubt there was a dry eye in the house.
Thanks for sharing this.